Great interest exists in (octafluorocyclobutane or perfluorocyclobutane) etchingplasmadischarges due to their selectivity and potential for decreasing global warming gas emissions. In order to allow computational exploration of the discharge physics, a numerical model for a discharge has been constructed. A set of cross sections has been assembled for electron collisions with based on a combination of ab initio calculations, beam measurements, and swarm (i.e., electron transport coefficient) analysis. In addition, a chemical reaction set has been proposed and an axisymmetric numerical model has been used to test the cross section and chemical reaction set against experiments. Results show that measured trends are reproduced and absolute values are well represented. A mechanism is suggested for negative atomic fluorine ion behavior with respect to power.

This article reports a simulation of argon inductively coupled plasma. Experimental measurements of the electron energy distribution function(EEDF) are fit to a power-law model and used to calculate electron impact rate coefficients in the simulation. Simulation results are compared to experimental measurements of electron density and temperature with good agreement, especially at the lower pressures investigated. At higher pressures, the disagreement between experiment and model is analyzed in terms of the nonlocality of the EEDF. Diffusive transport, neutral heating, gas phase electron impact reactions, and surface quenching all contribute to the predicted metastable profiles. Predicted metastable densities and neutral gas temperatures are compared to experimental results from the literature with reasonable agreement.